10/03/2026
The entire issue condensed. Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal member, Robert J. Lyttle, falsified his "investigation" results to mislead the Kiowa Government and the NIGC:
In Nov of 2023, Robert J Lyttle, a Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal Member, was assigned to investigate the alleged overpayment issue by the Kiowa Executive Branch without the knowledge that Mr. Lyttle was separated from his job, in part, as the Kiowa Legislature’s attorney in 2017-2018 due to information from 2 of the named KCOA Board of Trustees to the then Executive Branch, as such, the circumstances raise a conflict or appearance-of-bias issue that warrants disclosure and examination. Mr. Lyttle cannot be in charge of an investigation involving Kiowa officials that gave information leading to the termination of Mr. Lyttle’s previous employment with the Kiowa Tribe in 2017-2018 (Item 1).
Mr. Lyttle’s investigation resulted in faulty determinations which were then used as the basis to calculate the fictitious overpayment amounts which are fully outlined below in 2 parts:
I. 2017 Payments to Susan Dunlap and Joe Poe Jr
1st Manipulation of the facts.
The KCOA operated under the 5th amended KCOA Charter. In that Charter adopted on April 20th, 2011 we find the compensation clause:
5th Amended KCOA Charter
"Section 13.15 Compensation. The trustees shall be entitled to receive a fixed stipend as compensation of $300.00 per meeting. The per meeting stipends shall be for regular and special meetings of the Board. The trustees shall also be entitled to receive reimbursement for any reasonable expenses incurred in connection with the performance of the trustees' duties."
Robert J Lyttle’s investigation into the 2017 KCOA payments under the 5th amended KCOA Charter ended with the reading of Section 13.15 of the Charter. As a result of the information provided from his investigation, the accountant then recorded all payments of $1,000 dollars during Calander year of 2017 and reflected each one as an overpayment of $700.
Mr. Lyttle conveniently omitted the KBC resolution of July 15th, 2015, raising the KCOA meeting fees to $1,000 (See picture below) in July 2015. (Item 2)
The approved Budget of the Kiowa Casino also reflects the meeting fee payment of $1,000 to KCOA Board members in that year and all subsequent years (Item 3) until 2022 when the Trustees were paid a yearly salary of $48,000.
Interestingly, the investigation asserts that Susan Dunlap and Joe Poe Jr. were guilty of accepting excessive payments at their first KCOA meeting they ever attended in February, 2017. Merely by being appointed to the KCOA Board of Trustees in January 2017, the investigation deems Dunlap and Poe violated the Charter by accepting payments in excess of what was allowed, while the 3 long time KCOA Board members in office (5+ plus years), received the exact same payments, for the exact same meetings, all throughout 2017 but were deemed lawfully earned.
II .2018 & 2019 payments to Dunlap, Poe,
McMahon and Kennedye
2nd Manipulation of the facts
The KCOA operated under the 6th KCOA Charter adopted in January 2018. This Charter was authored by Robert J. Lyttle. It meddles with the KCOA compensation clause and occurred right after the Executive Branch stopped paying Mr. Lyttle’s attorney fees. The KCOA disclosed that Mr. Lyttle delayed the Kiowa Casino refinance of its $25,000,000 loan at 14% in favor of a new loan at 5% by 19 months at a cost of $2,400,000 in higher interest expenses (from April 2017 – December 2018). It was also noted that Mr. Lyttle was to receive an undisclosed lump sum payment for authoring the New Constitution when it was adopted in April 2017
6th KCOA CHARTER
"Section 13.15 Compensation. The trustees shall be entitled to receive a fixed stipend as compensation per meeting as set in an approved Annual Budget or Budget Modification. The per meeting stipends shall be for regular and special meetings of the Board. The trustees shall also be entitled to receive reimbursement for any reasonable expenses incurred in connection with the performance of the trustees' duties."
Mr. Lyttle determined in his investigation that the KCOA budget and all payments made to the KCOA Board of Trustees were to be included in the Kiowa Tribal Budget. However, the word “TRIBAL” is nowhere to be found in the compensation clause in the 6th KCOA Charter. The KCOA Budget has always been in the Kiowa Casino’s Approved Budget where it was stated at $450,000 (or higher) from 2015-2022. The KCOA Budget had never been included in the Kiowa Tribal Budget until the Fall of 2018 (and never was again until 2023 when Lyttle was again employed by the Kiowa Executive Branch)
The 2018, there was no line item for the KCOA in the Kiowa Tribal Budget as the KCOA budget had never been included in the Budget of the Kiowa Tribe. In Oct 2018, Mr. Lyttle (planted) caused the insertion of a $36,000 KCOA Budget in the line item of the Kiowa Tribal Budget Modification in his attempt to frame the former KCOA. The KCOA’s Budget had already been stated in an approved Kiowa Casino Budget on August 23, 2017 for the upcoming fiscal year 10/1/17 to 9/30/2018, over a full year prior to Mr. Lyttle’s meddling with the October 2018 Kiowa Tribal Budget modification used in this attempt to frame the former KCOA.
Using the results of his investigation, which falsely determined the KCOA was subject to the Budget Modification of Oct 2018, the accountant recorded any payment of $1,000 was an overpayment and $700 for each occurrence was added to the overpayment report.
The investigation conducted by Mr. Lyttle, his findings, conclusions, along with its misinformation and material omissions, misled the Kiowa Government and the NIGC into validating the former KCOA Board’s alleged overpayments.
If the evidence establishes that Mr. Lyttle knowingly caused materially false information to be submitted to the National Indian Gaming Commission, those circumstances could raise issues under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 “Statements and Entries Generally”.* Whether the statute was violated and a Federal Felony was committed would depend upon proof that the statements were materially false, were made or submitted knowingly and willfully, and concerned a matter within Federal Jurisdiction (which this one does)
ALL DOCUMENTS REFERENCED WERE
SUBMITTED TO THE KIOWA COURT.
*Overview of 18 U.S.C. § 1001
This section outlines key aspects of the statute.
False Statements — It is illegal to knowingly make false statements in any matter under federal jurisdiction, which includes various forms of communication and documentation.
Penalties — Violators can face fines and imprisonment for up to five years, depending on the severity of the offense.
Scope — The statute applies to a wide range of federal matters, including investigations and administrative proceedings, making it a critical tool for law enforcement.
Intent Requirement — The law requires that the individual acted with intent to deceive, which is a key element in prosecuting cases under this statute.
